The Electromagnetic Detectability of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries with LSST
Abstract
The next generation of survey telescopes are expected to provide the first observations of electromagnetic counterparts to low-frequency gravitational waves produced during the inspiral and merging of supermassive black holes. However, it's not clear as to whether these sources will actually be detectable above the general variability of black hole accretion. We seek to better understand the prospects for supermassive black hole binary detectability with a set of simulated light curves that include a range of contributions from both quasar damped random walk (DRW) variability and periodic (sinusoidal) signals. The light curves have noise, cadence, and duration matched to the likely design of the LSST Deep Drilling Fields. Within this analysis, we specifically probe how different black hole masses, mass ratios, luminosities, and orbital periods impact the reliability of binary identification and the accuracy of binary parameters fit using PyMC3. LSST probes a range of binary separations that matches near-future expectations for pulsar timing array detection of gravitational waves, and so we expect our research to indicate potential electromagnetic sources for current and future low-frequency gravitational wave observatories.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23324309H